1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to pre-download of network objects from a server and incorporates a process for normalizing a network object identifier in a request message.
2. Related Art
In computer networks, client devices often request and receive information from server devices. A common example of such client-server information occurs during use of the World Wide Web, in which a web client (sometimes called a web “browser”) requests web pages and embedded network objects from a web server (sometimes called a “web site”).
One problem in the known art is that web clients experience some delay between the time they request a web page from a web server and the time that that web page is presented by the web client software to the user. This delay can be due to the size of the web page, the limited connection bandwidth, the network distance to the web server, the load on the web server, or other factors.
A method exists that provides a technique for pre-download of network objects from a server, such as is used in conjunction with an internetworking environment, which reduces the time users wait for delivery and presentation of those network objects. A device which is coupled to the web-server maintains statistical information regarding which network objects are most likely to be requested by users and gives hints to a client-side component to pre-download those network objects to associated web clients in advance of actual requests being made by the user for those network objects. This is achieved by analyzing the request messages sent by the user to predict which subsequent network objects are likely to be requested by that user.
This method is less effective when the network object identifier, such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), contains a search string, a variable, or some other dynamic value. In such cases, two problems are likely to occur: (1) the number of possible URL's becomes arbitrarily large and unmanageable because each page has an infinite number of URL's that refer to it; and (2) the predictive value is decreased because the URL is specific to a single user, such as when the value is a user identifier, and there are too few links between similar URL's. The invention provides a method for increasing the effectiveness of the pre-download method and system.